


The Importance of Being Earnest

by soscrewed



Category: Winner (Band)
Genre: M/M, One Night Stands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 09:25:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17937176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soscrewed/pseuds/soscrewed
Summary: What were the protocols for one night stands?





	The Importance of Being Earnest

Jinwoo wasn’t sure what the protocol was for a situation like this. He’d never had a one night stand before, so he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be awkwardly cordial with the guy he’d spent last Friday night with.

Mino.

His name was Mino. And Jinwoo didn’t even know his last name. Didn’t know how old he was or where he was from. If sleeping with strangers within an hour of knowing them was the weekend norm for him.

Jinwoo didn’t know all these things. But he _did_ know the sound Mino made when he came. The way he moaned when something felt good to him. The harsh sound of his breathing over the obscene slapping of skin against skin.

They weren’t things Jinwoo was necessarily proud that he knew. Such intimate details about a virtual stranger. Details that Jinwoo had been trying his best to forget for four days now, because he didn’t do things like _that_. And he couldn’t even blame it on something like alcohol, because the only thing Jinwoo had to drink that night was a Coke. He’d been perfectly sober when he let Mino slide up against him at the bar, the other male donning an infuriatingly charming smile as he introduced himself.

Pretty. Mino had called Jinwoo pretty.

The compliment wasn’t one that Jinwoo hadn’t heard before. All his life, he’d grown up hearing girls and boys alike calling him pretty. But there was just something about the way Mino said it. Something so unusually earnest about it.

Jinwoo was willingly seduced. For the first time since moving to Seoul a couple months ago, he wasn’t worried about a thing. Not even when Mino pressed his mouth close to Jinwoo’s ear and asked over the loud music if he wanted to get out of there. And not even twenty minutes later when Jinwoo found himself leaning into a mattress not his own, while Mino’s teasing, lube slicked fingers skillfully worked him open.

_God, the sounds you make_.

The same intimate details Jinwoo knew about Mino, the other man probably knew about him too. He’d been surprisingly attentive for a one night stand. At least Jinwoo thought so.

Which was why seeing Mino again without the haze of lust from that Friday night was startling. And Jinwoo really would’ve tried to escape, except he was at work, stuck behind the counter at his university’s bookstore. And of course Mino was in his line.

Of course.

Jinwoo always had terrible luck.

The girl he was supposed to be ringing up let out a sound of irritation over how slowly Jinwoo was moving and he sent her a forced smile in apology and finished scanning her two text books. There was one more person in front of Mino and Jinwoo groaned internally as he absently swiped the credit card the impatient girl shoved at him.

He wished his roommate Seungyoon was there. The younger man seemed to have a talent for speaking his way through any situation, something Jinwoo both admired and envied about him. Most of the time, Jinwoo felt like their roles were reversed and that Seungyoon was the actual hyung. When Jinwoo didn’t come home after spending the night with Mino, Seungyoon had been worried sick. And was still up by the time Jinwoo came slinking back into their dorm around seven that Saturday morning. He’d never heard Seungyoon nag that much.

Jinwoo ignored the eye rolling his impatient customer gave him as he put her books and receipt in a bag and distractedly wished her a nice day. The next customer in line stepped up, dropping a book of poetry, two study guide packets, and a heavy math text book down in front of Jinwoo with a grunt. But Jinwoo wasn’t paying attention to him, because Mino had finally looked up. And he could only watch in horror as a look of recognition passed over Mino’s handsome face, making Jinwoo want to duck down and hide behind the counter.

The male customer in front of him started loudly clearing his throat and Jinwoo swallowed, body feeling cold all of a sudden. He offered the customer a shaky smile and began ringing the books up slowly.

Despite the chill, sweat dampened Jinwoo’s forehead and he did his best to focus on attending to the customer and not the impending dread building in the pit of his gut. The transaction was completed way too quickly for Jinwoo’s liking and he could only watch helplessly as the customer took his newly purchased books and left an open space in front of his counter for Mino to step into.

A sketchbook, a packet of blank sheet music, and two packs of granite pencils were gently placed on the counter.

Jinwoo took a deep breath and avoided looking at Mino as he rang the items up. He could do this. He could _do_ this.

Mino’s total flashed across the screen of the register and a handful of bills appeared in Jinwoo’s line of sight.

_He could do this_.

Jinwoo reached out to take the money, but was immediately surprised when Mino didn’t let go.

Well shit.

“You ran away.”

Eyes widening, Jinwoo dared to look up at Mino and saw that the other man was staring at him beseechingly, lips drawn up into a grim line. “W-w-what?”

“Last weekend. You ran away,” Mino repeated quietly. “I woke up and you were gone.”

Confusion attacked his brain and Jinwoo could only blink at Mino.

“Did you…you…we had a good time, right?” Mino started, suddenly sounding unsure. It was such a contrast to the confidence he had carried that Friday night. “Neither of us were drunk and I thought it was what you wanted?”

Face flushing, Jinwoo nodded jerkily. “I did! I mean…I did…want it.”

“Then why did you leave?”

Why did he leave? Was this sort of conversation _normal_? In all the movies and dramas Jinwoo watched, there was no awkward conversations like the one that was currently happening to him at that moment. Not if the relationship was only physical, like Jinwoo had assumed it was with Mino.

“You wanted me to stay?”

“Did you think I was going to immediately kick you out afterwards?”

“I don’t know,” Jinwoo blurted, feeling even more embarrassed. “I never…did something like that before.”

Mino’s eyes widened. “You mean you were a virgin?”

Horrified, Jinwoo looked around to see if anyone was listening to their conversation. Luckily, his coworker Hayi seemed busy ringing up her own customer and Mino was the only one standing in his line. “ _No_ , I wasn’t…I wasn’t one.” He took a deep breath and peered at Mino in exasperation. “Look. I have a break in about ten minutes. Do you want to talk then?”

“You’re not going to try to run away again, are you?” Mino asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jinwoo fought the urge to roll his eyes. “My break is only 15 minutes; it’s not like I can go very far.”

“Second floor. Music section,” Mino said, finally releasing the money for his purchases. “I’ll be sitting on one of the couches by the window.”

Sighing internally, Jinwoo nodded shortly and finished ringing Mino up.

 

***

Twelve minutes later, Jinwoo found himself on the second floor of the bookstore, panicking and wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. What if Mino was some sort of stalker? What if he was a serial killer and wanted to finish what he hadn’t been able to that Friday? _Oh, god_. And now he knew where Jinwoo worked. Jinwoo was going to have to quit. Then how was he going to buy his groceries with no job? The food in the cafeteria was tasteless crap and that meant Jinwoo would _starve_. And his father! His father would be so sad. Worked all those years to send his son to a fancy university in Seoul, only for him to die of starvation all because of some handsome serial killer named Mino.

“You know, you kinda do a really bad job at hiding what you’re feeling,” a low voice spoke up, startling Jinwoo out of his thoughts.

He blinked and realized that Mino was standing in front of him, _not seated_ by the windows like he said he would be.

Mino tilted his head and shrugged a little at the accusing look that Jinwoo gave him. “I thought you ran away again. I was gonna go check.”

Jinwoo sighed. “I told you I wouldn’t.”

“Yeah, well, hiding emotions may be hard for you, but disappearing isn’t.” Mino slipped a finger in the belt loop of Jinwoo’s ugly work khakis and pulled him closer with the same grin that had made Jinwoo so weak last Friday night. “Ah. There it is. I’ve been thinking about that pretty blush all week.”

Embarrassed, Jinwoo slapped Mino’s hands away. “Yah! You said you wanted to talk! This isn’t talking.”

“Let me take you out,” Mino said easily.

Jinwoo paused. “…take me out where?”

“On a date.”

“ _A date_.” This guy was crazy, Jinwoo decided. Absolutely certifiable. Who asked someone out after a one night stand? Was everyone in Seoul like this? “We already… _did it_ …why do we need to go out on a date?” Jinwoo asked.

Mino raised an eyebrow at him. “Why do you make it sound so weird?”

“Because it _is_ weird!”

“So you don’t want to go out with me?”

Resisting the urge to facepalm, Jinwoo ran a frustrated hand through his dark hair. “You don’t even know my full name. You don’t know where I’m from or anything about me.”

“…that’s kinda the reason for the whole date thing,” Mino explained slowly, as if Jinwoo was the one being ridiculous. “That’s how it works, you know? You meet someone, date them and get to know them…”

“Except for the whole part where we’ve already seen each other naked.”

Mino grinned. “That part is a little unconventional I guess.”

Jinwoo folded his arms. “Right.”

“I don’t normally do that, just so you know,” Mino started, sounding serious all of a sudden as he sent Jinwoo a measured look. “I’m always so focused on my music and keeping my grades up and working, so I don’t really have much time to meet anyone, let alone _do that_ with someone. But. You. Something tells me you’re worth making time for.”

There he went being so damn _earnest_ again. It made Jinwoo’s stomach lurch and his face burn. He’d only been in Seoul for a couple of months, but none of the people he’d met so far had been like _this_. His parents and everyone else back home made remarks about Jinwoo being too trusting, too naive, so he had been hellbent on proving them all wrong. Built up an armor to protect himself from oil slicked words and charming eyes and seductive smiles. He’d encountered more than one person with pretty words and ill intentions since being here, but there was just something so honest about Mino. Something that Jinwoo could see himself removing his armor for. And it was terrifying.

Mino seemed to realize he was hesitating and gave Jinwoo a gentle, placating smile. “Dinner. That’s it,” he murmured, reaching out to loop his pinky around Jinwoo’s. “We don’t have to do what we did last time. We don’t even have to kiss. Not if you don’t want to. Just…please let me take you to dinner.”

Jinwoo could feel his cheeks warming up again at the plea. Everything in his head was yelling for him to say no, to push Mino away and demand that the strange man leave him alone. But some other part of him, the part that reveled in the new, scary feelings that were building up inside of him, made him want to join the rest of his fingers with Mino’s. Made him want to agree to any and everything the other man wanted, just because there was no way he could be lying. Not with the way he was looking at Jinwoo, something so soft and sweet and genuine.

“Okay,” Jinwoo finally answered in a quiet voice.

Mino’s eyes lit up. “Okay?” he echoed, a grin starting to form on his lips.

Nodding, Jinwoo let out a shaky breath and smiled a little. “Okay.”

“What time do you get off?” Mino asked, grinning brightly. “I’m done with my classes for the day. And I don’t have to work. Are you free?”

“I’m free. I get off at 7.”

“7.” Mino nodded as if committing the time to memory. “Okay. 7. I’ll pick you up if that’s okay?”

Letting out another breath, Jinwoo nodded. “It’s fine.”

Mino’s grin didn’t falter as he reached to tangle the rest of his fingers with Jinwoo’s for a moment and Jinwoo was startled at how _right_ it felt. Mino gave his fingers a little squeeze and slowly let go like it was the last thing he wanted to do. “Thank you for giving me a chance, Jinwoo-sshi. You won’t regret it.” He grinned again and Jinwoo recognized it for the promise it was.

Another three hours left of his shift and with butterflies in his stomach, Jinwoo found himself wishing that it was already 7 o’clock.

 

 


End file.
